got-djent.com's favourite releases of 2013: number 1

Yesterday, we announced number 2 in the got-djent.com top 20 releases of 2013. Today, we're announcing who took the 1st place. Most people will already have figured this out by now, so to keep things interesting, we're also announcing the top 10 of freely downloadable releases of 2013. Once again, we want to thank everyone who participated and shared their favourites with us, as well as all the bands who put out tons of awesome music for us to enjoy!

In a few weeks, we'll also posting our editors' picks of 2013, to highlight some awesome albums that might have slipped under the radar. Stay tuned for that!

It's sometimes rather hard to tap into the life force running through a piece of art. Some aspects of art, music especially, must be approached in radically different ways. Most progressive music, I find, has to be approached in a way that doesn't appeal to my train of thought. My neurons and synaptical connections prevent me from seeing the true inner workings of the music; I find it hard to relate to. I don't get the tingle I get from listening to, say, Penderecki's 'Threnody For The Victims of Hiroshima', Ulcerate, Rolo Tomassi, Richard Dawson or other music that moves different sonic boundaries to what we call prog. However, 2013 brought something I was really amazed by: an album that is nothing if not prog, but which pulls the right strings to get my inner energy in exquisite, poetic flow.That thing was 'Altered State' by TesseracT, the most fresh, exuberant and wonderful bit of prog since… well, there is no since; TesseracT have turned over a fresh stone with this release.

The album starts with amazing serenity, which has an extremely regal feel about it. This is in stark contrast to the opening of 'Concealing Fate', the alter ego of 'Altered State', which sounded like the prelude to some great tragedy; a crimson red sun rising on the day of loss and sadness. 'Altered State' has a greatly refined take on this sound; Acle Kahney's songwriting still retains the tension and edge that made it so great in the first place, but the overall ebb and flow between the full blown heartache I associate with Acle's love of Led Zeppelin (that riff in 'Proxy' exudes Jimmy Page, and the pangs of emotion that explode in 'Singularity' are also total Zep), and the airy, weightless sections that intersperse the vastness of this tale.

The story isn't really told through the lyrics, whose main purpose, in my mind, is to get you hooked (think: biggest choruses you'll ever hear, and then some): you can feel the journey this album takes you on in the ethereal lagoons and pools of ambience, flawless rhythm section partnership and provocative, thick harmonies, clearly given extra weight by another strand I associate TesseracT with, that of contemporary jazz. The focus of the album is improved from 'One' by a measure I cannot describe in the massive effort put into the production: it has the valleys and contours 'One' so badly needed, and adds a completeness which their debut also fell short on.

Despite all this, the album isn't perfect: I find it hard to remember the section between 'Exile' and 'Palingenesis' in full, gripping detail, despite some wonderful flourishes here and there, whereas the first twenty minutes are engrained into my brain, and the finale is simply magnificent. Further refinement would have allowed me to say this was the most unexpectedly engaging listen I'd had in metal for some considerable time. That said, this work is definitely something special: second albums are said to be the make or break for most bands, and TesseracT have given us one which conclusively cements them in the stratospheres of modern metal. But not just modern metal: this album has a universal appeal that a lot of djent severely lacks, and could propel the band to as yet unknown heights. I think their next steps could hold even more imaginative spark. - Zyglrob

TesseracT - Altered State: 55 minutes of unmatched majesty and twang with singing to match. The crowning work of 2013, and sure to cause waves for some time yet.

As promised, we also have a top 10 of freely downloadable releases for you! Check it out below. You can download each release for free (legally!) by clicking the green download button to the right. Releases that are available for streaming can also be listened to by clicking the red headphone silhouette .

If there's any releases on this list that you haven't heard yet, do yourself a favour and grab them now, it won't cost you anything! Enjoy! If you're looking for more free music to download, check out our extensive free downloads section. In a few weeks, we'll also be posting our editors' picks of 2013, which our bound to include a bunch of free releases as well. Stay tuned!

Comments

Submitted by johnny shnizz on Sun, 02/02/2014 - 09:44.

ForTiorI´s 'Chronicles' is available for free again. sorry, i forgot to check. there should be a feature on bandcamp that makes the album available for free automatically when the download credits are restocked.

I checked through the entire list and the only one that isn't available for free download right now is Fortiori's "Chronicles" which costs 1€ at the moment (he probably ran out of free download tickets or something).
Note that on bandcamp "Buy Now" without a price added is just a payment option. This means that you can input "0" as a payment and still download the album.

Meh, I was disappointed by this record. You say this record is unmatched, I see 8 other releases on this list that I would very happily put over this one. Songwriting took a serious turn for the worse in my opinion. Nowhere near as memorable as One was, or even Perspective to be honest, felt little reason to return to this album since it first came out beyond one or two songs.